Star Wars PT- "Burn Brightly" - Anakin Skywalker - PG-13

Title – Burn Brightly.Author – Sealgirl in seal_girlFandom – Star WarsPrompt – The last thoughts of Anakin on MustafarWord Count – 365Rating – PG-13Summary – Anakin clings to life on the burning ground of Mustfar.A/N – Written for the starwarsficfest, 27th July 2008.

Burn Brightly.

Pain, there is nothing but endless, blood soaked, burning pain.

No-one else is there. His voice has gone, but his words linger, you were my brother, Anakin…

He might be gone but the anger still burned inside, just the same, twinned with pain.

Embrace the anger, anger turns to power. Power is the way to the Force. The Force still flows inside. Anger and the Force combine, and through the pain there is still life.

The frail body lies in pieces around the stony slope, the river of molten rock hisses and spits behind, like a red viper. Anger and hatred, choking sulphur; they all adding a new dimension to pain. Burning. Pain. Red. You were my brother, Anakin…

There had been a moment, just a single moment, when the impulse had been there to reach out to the other man, to embrace as brothers and equals. Then anger, darker and colder than empty space itself soaked through the need and love. Rage filled everything with a dull roar. The thud of blood through the broken body echoed the thoughts.

You were my brother Anakin, and I loved you.

No words of pity were ever so cutting and hurtful as those. How dare he love? How dare he say that on the brink of destruction?

Blood thuds. Anger burns. Hatred sustains, and the need for revenge. Revenge was all there was left.

Death, as life, was now red-rimmed and doused in blood. No death was good enough for the betrayer. No death, only lingering agony as a mirror to his own suffering. There were images of torment, and the sweet sound of that man screaming in pain and desperate in loss. Only that would be sufficient to quell the urgent chorus inside him.

Revenge for betrayal, revenge for defeat, revenge for failure. That was all there was left to live for. Anger washes over in red waves, until all that was left was black.

There had been a moment, just a single moment, when the impulse had been there to reach out to the other man, to embrace as brothers and equals. Then anger, darker and colder than empty space itself soaked through the need and love.

Well, we can't have it all the Dark-Side's own way for the whole fic, after all he does *eventually* turn back to the Light :)And it's nice to think that he did at least have (very, very, very slight) second thoughts when Obi-Wan spoke to him.